Pilot Life: Back in a Katana

Today was a crazy day! Things did not work out how I wanted it to be. I was scheduled to go fly in the Cherokee but since yesterday, it's been giving us issues, particularly with the starter for the engine; very important, if I do say so myself (and then I later found out that it was grounded for maintenance because the issue was much worse than we originally thought!)! So I ended up flying a Katana instead. And I got a sweet deal from the owner of the flight school today; he said he would charge me the lower rental rates of the Cherokee (since that was what I originally wanted to fly) when I took a Katana instead! He also offered me a reduced rental rate because of a positive review I left on the flight school's Facebook page not too long after I earned my license, which he greatly appreciated!

"On Thursdays, we play musical airplanes!" -Duane Barr (Platinum Aviation)

The original plan was to get some yoke-time with the Cherokee (N7625F)...

...but I ended up getting some stick time by taking up a Katana (N992CT) instead!

After I got ready to fly the Cherokee and I hopped in, I attempted engine start and I got nothing. Eventually, a couple flight instructors as well as the owner of the flight school (also a real cool guy!) noticed and came out to the airplane to assess the situation. In the end, we brought the Cherokee over to the hangar and plugged it into the external power source to determine if there was a problem with the starter; again, I later found out that the plane was officially taken offline for maintenance because the problem was discovered to be much worse than anticipated.

So in the end, I ended up flying a Katana. And I was offered the cheaper rental rates of the Cherokee as compensation. After I did pre-flight all over again, I hopped in and got the engine started no problem. I taxied a short distance to do my run-ups before taxiing to the runway to get airborne. Once airborne, I stuck to the original plan I had if I flew the Cherokee by travelling down to Nephi to get some landing practice in; once the Cherokee is fixed and in good working order, I'll head down to Nephi again and get some landing practice at a different airport in a different aircraft than the one I've been accustomed to during my flying career.

I got to Nephi and entered the left traffic pattern for Runway 17, since the winds were favoring this particular direction and heading. I did three touch-and-go landings before I headed back north to Spanish Fork, where I would once again, do some pattern work and get two more touch-and-go landings in followed by a full-stop landing; when I got to Spanish Fork though, the pattern was pretty busy and I had to find an opening in the traffic build-up to ensure spacing. Visibility was good and I didn't have much problem looking for and finding other aircraft in the pattern.

After going full-stop on my third landing (for a total of six landings logged today!) in Spanish Fork, I vacated the runway and taxied back to the ramp and hangar, where I shut the engine down and called it a flight.

Not a bad day's work given the craziness that went on before I went flying today!